Urgent: MacBook Backlight Off

I seem to have pressed some kind of deadly key combination that has completely disabled my display's backlight. The screen is barely readable and none of the normal brightness buttons or sliders are having any effect.
Any ideas on how to get things back to normal?

I work for a small school. A teacher here bought a MacBook three days ago and has had three incidences of her backlight lamp appearing to die. When the book was opened and the power on, the screen was just barely visible and it looked the same way as the older iBooks I've seen with dead backlights. However, it seems to be a problem with the computer's "sleep on shut" setting. That is, when she goes to shut her MacBook after choosing "Shut Down" from the apple menu, she may be shutting it before the computer has entirely turned off, thus tripping the Sleep feature. When she goes to open the computer after this, the backlight doesn't come on even though the computer is still on, and so it looks like the backlight is dead.
I was actually able to temporarily fix this by navigating the dark screen to the apple menu, choosing "Shut Down", allowing the computer to power off, then powering it back on with the power button and with an external display connected to the MacBook's external display adapter. The backlight suddenly came back on, and the desktop was visible both on the MacBook and on the external display.
However, the problem has happened again since then, and short of hooking it up to an external display the only way to get it working again is to turn it off and on a couple times until it decides to start working again. Apparently this is happening even when she shuts it down correctly and lets the computer fully power off before shutting the case. It's frustrating, and definitely a problem apple should address if other people are experiencing it, as well.

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Help: Macbook backlight off, but can still see webpage, non-reponsive

Ok. Here we go. I bought a used Macbook for my daughter (her first Mac!).
The Macbook was in great physical shape, in fact it looks almost brand new despite being an older 2.0ghz model. Everything has been going great for the past month, until today.
The first issue came when I went and tried to wake the Macbook up from sleep. When I opened the lid, the display was on and all of my pages etc. were still open. However, it was unresponsive to any sort of input. Eventually I had to just force it power down and then restart it.
The second issue (same day), my wife went to use the computer, but discovered that the backlight was off. We could still make out the items being displayed on the screen, but again it was unresponsive. Normally, if the computer is on and the display isn't working, you can usually at least get the capslock button to light up or here the tick sound when you push the volume keys.
I am a bit concerned about this because it is the second time today that the Macbook has become unresponsive. This time when I rebooted it (after forcing it off), the fan came on for about 2 minutes. Then I ran the disk utility, but got nothing abnormal.
The Macbook is way out of warranty, which is why I turned to the discussions forum. Any help of advice would be appreciated!
Thanks

Does the display work normal when booted from the install DVD?
Also, try running your hardware tester, resetting your SMC and PRAM.
Resetting the System Management Controller >>
Dave M.
MacOSG v.2.0 coming April 1, 2010! No fooling! Check it out!
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MacBook backlight goes off when lid partially closed

My 2yr old MacBook backlight has started turning off when the screen is partially closed. It works fine if the screen is open beyond a certain angle (about 90 degrees), but turns off when the screen is closed beyond that angle. Comparing to another MacBook (newer system): the backlight stays on until the screen/lid is just about closed.
It's definitely the backlight (the logo goes off as well), not the system suspending.
I'm worried this may be an early sign of a general failure.
It's well out of warranty -- any ideas what part should I look at replacing?

Louie -
I have the mid 2009 MBP - is there a magnet inside the unibody aluminum housing? The lid latch below the track pad is smooth and seems to have some magnetic attraction to the lid itself.
S.U. -
My problem is that the screen does not go off when the lid is closed. The problems described with the SMC reset involve the screen backlight not turning on. It also says to not reset the SMC unnecessarily. WIll that reset affect anything else?
Tried the paper clip - no joy. Will check with a magnet at work.
Is there a time setting for sleep mode on close?
Message was edited by: Thomas Seery

My macbook shut off and wont turn back on. Im pretty sure it is charging. The LED light is on but only when the laptop is closed. Im in grad school and have lots saved. Please Help!

My macbook shut off and wont turn back on. Im pretty sure it is charging. The LED light is on but only when the laptop is closed. Im in grad school and have lots saved. Please Help!

ronicr76,
First it would be helpful if you post the exact model, year and OS version you have.
> The LED light is on but only when the laptop is closed<
So that light is the sleep indicator and tells us that the laptop is going to sleep when you close the lid. That would be normal behavior so the machine is still working. Possibly you're experiencing a backlight failure. With the machine supposedly "on" use a flashlight to carefully examine the screen. Do you see the desktop? Yes? machine is still running and something is wrong with the backlight.
You should immediately backup your computer or at the very least pull vital files off. With the computer hooked to another Mac (The way this is done depends on the exact MacBook, E.g.FireWire 800 to FireWire 800.) Then you restart the computer and hold the "t" key down. This puts your MacBook into "target mode":
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
Once your files are off try an SMC reset:
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Are you able to get the backlight back on by opening and closing the display? Yes? Broken backlight cable refer to qualified service place. Even if it doesn't come on and you can still see the desktop with a flashlight it is still probably the backlight. Could be the a backlight problem also.

"sleep 1; xset dpms force off" doesn't turn backlight off

I have a 13'' Macbook Pro connected to a 24'' Apple Cinema Display LED monitor and I'm running a XFCE as DE, and running the nvidia-beta + nvidia-utils-beta from AUR. I'm using the external monitor as the main screen and the MBP display turned off. I don't have a separate screensaver installed.
Until a couple of months ago issuing 'sleep 1; xset dpms force off' would turn the backlight of the Apple Cinema Display off, which is how I like it. Now however the backlight switches off for a second, switches on again showing a blank (black with backlight on) screen. I experimented with the xset screensaver settings (xset s ...) but none enable me to turn the backlight off.
output of 'xset q' :
Keyboard Control:
auto repeat: on key click percent: 0 LED mask: 00000002
XKB indicators:
00: Caps Lock: off 01: Num Lock: on 02: Scroll Lock: off
03: Compose: off 04: Kana: off 05: Sleep: off
06: Suspend: off 07: Mute: off 08: Misc: off
09: Mail: off 10: Charging: off 11: Shift Lock: off
12: Group 2: off 13: Mouse Keys: off
auto repeat delay: 660 repeat rate: 25
auto repeating keys: 00ffffffdffffbbf
fadfffefffedffff
9fffffffffffffff
fff7ffffffffffff
bell percent: 50 bell pitch: 400 bell duration: 100
Pointer Control:
acceleration: 1/10 threshold: 4
Screen Saver:
prefer blanking: yes allow exposures: yes
timeout: 600 cycle: 600
Colors:
default colormap: 0x20 BlackPixel: 0x0 WhitePixel: 0xffffff
Font Path:
/usr/share/fonts/misc/,/usr/share/fonts/TTF/,/usr/share/fonts/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
Standby: 600 Suspend: 600 Off: 600
DPMS is Enabled
With the Apple Cinema Display disconnected and using only the laptop monitor 'sleep 1; xset dpms force off' does turn the backlight off. So it seems to be something about using the external monitor.
Last edited by rwd (2012-11-01 20:23:26)

Thank you! Nice to know I am not alone. Googling has brought me nothing, though it's difficult to pinpoint discussions about something like this, as users may not know enough to work out what the problem is and not even mention DPMS!
Anyway, my setup consists of an i7 running on an X58A board with an ATi 5850 card using the radeon driver, from testing, not git. System is fully up to date with testing enabled, X has little manual configuration besides telling it what driver to use.
I should mention that prior to this, I was using the fglrx driver, and had a similar but different problem. With the fglrx driver, when using DPMS, after an undetermined time, could be minutes, could be hours, X would peg the CPU and become unresponsive, not even able to change to another VT. Another issue difficult to google as a lot of users wouldn't know to ssh in to have a poke round. I switched to radeon in an effort to get rid of this problem, only to have it replaced with another!
Neither times did anything out of the ordinary turn up in any logs. Frustrated isn't the word! For now I have turned off monitor power saving in KDE though this isn't ideal
EDIT: Turning off monitor power saving in KDE didn't work, so I have no added
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "BlankTime" "0"
Option "StandbyTime" "0"
Option "SuspendTime" "0"
Option "OffTime" "0"
EndSection
to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-xorg.conf
Of course, I'd like to be able to use DPMS! Anyone have any ideas how this can be rectified?
Last edited by LadFromWales (2012-02-26 13:54:51)

My macbook shuts off randomly, how do I know what's causing this and prevent it from happening again?

My macbook shuts off and I kept a journal for it because mine's got complications.
July 1, 2014 (Tuesday)
I spilled a cup of choclate milk on my keyboard, it was soaked! But my battery was drained so I know nothing had short out. So I turned it over and never tried to turn it on.
July 2
I went to the nearest apple center and asked them to clean it for me. (I knew it wasn't a good idea to clean it myself) They put it in a plastic bag but I asked them to open it as soon as possible so I know what parts are affected. They told me they'd take a picture of the inside for me and go back after an hour. Milk was still inside everywhere so I asked them to take it in.
July 8
I called to get an update on my mac and they said it wasn't economically practical to repair it because they recommended a full system replacement. I got depressed and accepted my Mac's fate. But what's annoying is I put my mac in on July 2 and they only tried to clean it in July 5 which makes me think that was the reason my mac was irreparable.
July 9
I took my mac and tried to find another opinion but I showed the diagnostics from the apple store and they said they couldn't fix it. My parents were getting ready to buy a new one.
July 13
I realized that my mac didn't have charge when milk spilled on it so I tried to charge it and BOOM IT OPENED. They keyboards were sticky and it takes a moment before my computer reacts to the trackpad but it works! Even all the keys works! But it doesn't charge.
After lunch, it was workingp perfectly and my batteries were at 30% charge! I was really happy!
(in the interval my mac works perfectly, it stays for normal 7 hours when battery is charged fully)
However at July 19
There was no electricity for four days (A typhoon came in the Philippines) and my battery is about 7% so I went to the public market to get it charge while I wait for electricity. I charged it for about 3 hours and sideways because it was inside my backpack while it charged so noone will notice it. When I got home and opened my laptop, it shut off randomly after my desktop appeared after start up. So I was sad.
July 20
I found a solution online to use the option-shift-power button my mac opened and worked normally!
July 21
My computer was normal in the morning then in the afternoon it shut off again after I waked it up from sleep. Tried option-shift for about 3-5 times before it worked with varying intervals from 5-20 minutes each
July 22
I get nervous when I use it but it worked perfectly I was even able to edit with Final-cut pro and HD clips.
Wednesday
Worked perfectly in the morning but in the afternoon, after waking it up from sleep it won't turn on tried the option-shift then I tried resetting the SMC for about three times (my mac is a unibody) but it didn't turn on the whole evening.
Today Thursday morning July 24
I tried to reset SMC first thing in the morning after the thing won't turn on. After about an hour, I tried to turn my mac on normally and it opened. So what I did is to back up all my files. (It took the whole afternoon) and at night I ran diagnostics (D during start up) and no threats were found
Haven't been experiencing the trouble, as of the moment I'm writing this Jul 25, Friday (12:13 AM) HK time Philippines.
So what I'm asking here is what do I do to make sure this doesn't occur anymore. I probably written a very detailed log. So what else (diagnostics and other) should I do to prevent this from happening again. School starts in August and I will need my laptop to work perfectly to let me go through college with less burden. Thank you and I hope you reply. Any more questions about details on my Mac will be answered
Macbook Pro 13-inch, Mid 2012
Bought in December 2012
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000
Software OS X 10.9.4 (13E28)

tryshdanielle wrote:
So what I'm asking here is what do I do to make sure this doesn't occur anymore.
Get a new computer. Consider switching to regular milk, or even a light fruit juice.

Hi, I turned my macbook pro off before I went to sleep, and this morning when I awaken. I can't seem to use the volume at all! I went to system preferences sound output BUT everything is light grey and it some-how looks like I don't have permission.

Hi, I turned my MacBook Pro off before I went to sleep, and this morning when I awaken. I can't seem to turn up or down my volume. It comes up with all the volume bars and a little circle sign with a diagonal line in the middle, like a stop sign. I have gone to system preferences > Volume > Output BUT all my volume preferences have gone all light grey and wont let me access them.
Anyone help?

Hi EmalooneyToons,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Take a look at the article linked below, it provides some suggestions for troubleshooting audio issues on Macs and when to setup service for your device, if needed.
Troubleshooting issues with no audio from built-in speakers on Macs
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1574
-Jason

I bought a MacBook Pro off of someone and the home folder is still in their name...is there any way I can change it without losing all of my stuff?

So I recently bought a MacBook Pro off of someone so I can use it for school. The home folder is still in the previous owners name and I was wondering if there is any way I could change it without losing all of my stuff that is on the MacBook Pro?? Thanks for your help!

See Changing user account short name

In the course of migration MacBook switched off due to low battery. After recharging progress bar doesn't change.

In the course of migration MacBook switched off due to low battery. After recharging the progress bar doesn't move. How to continue the migration?

I've never seen the Migration Assistant resume from sleep - for that matter I've never seen a computer go to sleep while MA was running. (If there's a next time, don't try this without the computer being plugged in.) You will probably have no choice but quit the migration and start over.

Early 2008 MacBookPro keyboard backlight off and fans run at high speed

Hi!
I wrote from Turkey.
My Early 2008 MacBookPro 2.40 ghz 4 gb Ram OSX Mavericks machine's keyboard backlight off and fans run at high speed; it seems an exact smc resetting problem.
So i tried the 2 ways of SMC restting procedure; both battery you can move and not, but nothings changed on the situation..
On the way for removable battery; nothing changed but on the way for umremovable battery way; keyboard backlight flashes and gone, but fans are at high speed not changed. So nothing changed.
What can i do right now? i'll wait for your advices
Thanks

Your Mac may need a new PRAM battery. Once it is over 4 years old, that often is needed.

Hiss with 5G when using SoundDock or similar ONLY when Backlight OFF

I've found this problem on two 30gig 5G iPods and I think it may be present on all.
-If battery is full (completely)
-If backlight is OFF
-iPod connected to a set of speakers via dock connecter AND the speakers control the volume, not the wheel on the iPod
Then, in quiet sections of music there is a noticable hiss from the speakers. This disappears as soon as the backlight goes on. Also not present if the iPod is charging (rather than charged already).
It happens on my Bose SoundDock and Belkin Auto Kit.
Also tried it on Kensington SX 2000 in an Apple Store - Same problem.
As a consequence the Apple store replaced my iPod. Now I've worked out about the battery, I think it is prenent on all 5G iPods, as it started on the replacement iPod as soon as it was fully charged.
Thoughts.....
AMD-PC Windows XP Pro

Hmmm, interesting thought Jon,
In my case it would be 50Hz Hum as I'm on the other side on the Atlantic.
Would you get such interference in a car though? I get the same problem with my Belkin Auto kit. This is basically a cig power adaptor with a small preamp in it. It connects to the dock connector and takes the line level audio, and preamps it and sends it to a 3.5mm jack that you connect your audio tape adaptor to. Same issue - hum/hiss with backlight OFF only when unit fully charged.
I've just taken to leaving my iPod not to turn off the screen, as I most use it powered.
Submitted the feedback as you suggested.

I want to turn my macbook air off. the shut down button already appeared but the mouse/cursor just hang and won't work. even after pressing the enter button to shut my mac off won't work. what will i do?

i want to turn my macbook air off. the shut down button already appeared but the mouse/cursor just hang and won't work. even after pressing the enter button to shut my mac off won't work. what will i do?

This is not a reply. I just want to elaborate on this problem.
My computer freezes occasionally when it is used after being sleep for a while. The spinning ball appears and everything is totally disabled. Nothing on the keyboard works.
The mouse moves, but does not work.
The only solution is to turn the power off and on (losing all data in open applications.)
I kept the System monitor running on the side to find out which program was running when the computer froze. The Monitor as well as all other applications froze, but the data showed:
Firefox 18.4%
Activity Monitor 0.9%
Firefox Plugin 0.2%
This is all the information I have. By the way, I am using iMac with OS 10.6.

My macbook backlight of display is not glowing,icons are hardly visible please help me what can i do.......

my macbook backlight of display is not glowing,icons are hardly visible please help me what can i do.......

If its under warranty, its something that the applestore will fix fairly quickly. If not, it all depends on if you are willing to spend that amount of money to get it fixed.

Purchased a MacBook Pro off someone and was wondering if there is a way to delete everything and start fresh?

I just purchased a MacBook Pro off of someone. They left a lot of their information on it, email, photos and all that. Is there an easy way to just delete everything on it and start fresh?

Before buying a second-hand computer, you should have run Apple Diagnostics or the Apple Hardware Test, whichever is applicable.
The first thing to do after buying the computer is to erase the internal drive and install a clean copy of OS X. You—not the original owner—must do that. Changes made by Apple over the years have made this seemingly straightforward task very complex.
How you go about it depends on the model, and on whether you already own another Mac. If you're not sure of the model, enter the serial number on this page. Then find the model on this page to see what OS version was originally installed.
It's unsafe, and may be unlawful, to use a computer with software installed by a previous owner.
1. If you don't own another Mac
a. If the machine shipped with OS X 10.4 or 10.5, you need a boxed and shrink-wrapped retail Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) installation disc from the Apple Store or a reputable reseller—not from eBay or anything of the kind. If the machine is very old and has less than 1 GB of memory, you'll need to add more in order to install 10.6. Preferably, install as much memory as it can take, according to the technical specifications.
b. If the machine shipped with OS X 10.6, you need the installation media that came with it: gray installation discs, or a USB flash drive for a MacBook Air. You should have received the media from the original owner, but if you didn't, order replacements from Apple. A retail disc, or the gray discs from another model, will not work.
To start up from an optical disc or a flash drive, insert it, then restart the computer and hold down the C key at the startup chime. Release the key when you see the gray Apple logo on the screen.
c. If the machine shipped with OS X 10.7 or later, you don't need media. It should start up in Internet Recovery mode when you hold down the key combination option-command-R at the startup chime. Release the keys when you see a spinning globe.
d. Some 2010-2011 models shipped with OS X 10.6 and received a firmware update after 10.7 was released, enabling them to use Internet Recovery. If you have one of those models, you can't reinstall 10.6 even from the original media, and Internet Recovery will not work either without the original owner's Apple ID. In that case, contact Apple Support, or take the machine to an Apple Store or another authorized service provider to have the OS installed.
2. If you do own another Mac
If you already own another Mac that was upgraded in the App Store to the version of OS X that you want to install, and if the new Mac is compatible with it, then you can install it. Use Recovery Disk Assistant to prepare a USB device, then start up the new Mac from it by holding down the C key at the startup chime. Alternatively, if you have a Time Machine backup of OS X 10.7.3 or later on an external hard drive (not a Time Capsule or other network device), you can start from that by holding down the option key and selecting it from the row of icons that appears. Note that if your other Mac was never upgraded in the App Store, you can't use this method.
3. Partition and install OS X
a. If you see a lock screen when trying to start up from installation media or in Recovery mode, then a firmware password was set by the previous owner, or the machine was remotely locked via iCloud. You'll either have to contact the owner or take the machine to an Apple Store or another service provider to be unlocked. You may be asked for proof of ownership.
b. Launch Disk Utility and select the icon of the internal drive—not any of the volume icons nested beneath it. In the Partition tab, select the default options: a GUID partition table with one data volume in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. This operation will permanently remove all existing data on the drive.
c. An unusual problem may arise if all the following conditions apply:
          OS X 10.7 or later was installed by the previous owner
          The startup volume was encrypted with FileVault
          You're booted in Recovery mode (that is, not from a 10.6 installation disc)
In that case, you won't be able to unlock the volume or partition the drive without the FileVault password. Ask for guidance or see this discussion.
d. After partitioning, quit Disk Utility and run the OS X Installer. If you're installing a version of OS X acquired from the App Store, you will need the Apple ID and password that you used. When the installation is done, the system will automatically restart into the Setup Assistant, which will prompt you to transfer the data from another Mac, its backups, or from a Windows computer. If you have any data to transfer, this is usually the best time to do it.
e. Run Software Update and install all available system updates from Apple. To upgrade to a major version of OS X newer than 10.6, get it from the Mac App Store. Note that you can't keep an upgraded version that was installed by the original owner. He or she can't legally transfer it to you, and without the Apple ID you won't be able to update it in Software Update or reinstall, if that becomes necessary. The same goes for any App Store products that the previous owner installed—you have to repurchase them.
4. Other issues
a. If the original owner "accepted" the bundled iLife applications (iPhoto, iMovie, and Garage Band) in the App Store so that he or she could update them, then they're irrevocably linked to that Apple ID and you won't be able to download them without buying them. Reportedly, Mac App Store Customer Service has sometimes issued redemption codes for these apps to second owners who asked.
b. If the previous owner didn't deauthorize the computer in the iTunes Store under his Apple ID, you wont be able to authorize it immediately under your ID. In that case, you'll either have to wait up to 90 days or contact iTunes Support.
c. When trying to create a new iCloud account, you might get a failure message: "Account limit reached." Apple imposes a lifetime limit of three iCloud account setups per device. Erasing the device does not reset the limit. You can still use an iCloud account that was created on another device, but you won't be able to create a new one. Contact iCloud Support for more information. The setup limit doesn't apply to Apple ID accounts used for other services, such as the iTunes and Mac App Stores, or iMessage. You can create as many of those accounts as you like.

Is there a way to turn the GPS on my MacBook Pro off?

How do I turn the GPS on my MacBook Pro off? Everytime I log onto iCloud to find my iPhone it pops up too.

Your MBP does not have GPS. iCloud is locating your machine by getting gelocation information from the IP address,

Urgent: MacBook Backlight Off

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